The Master Returns
by Crimson Anna
Summary: Set between "The Doctor Falls" and "Twice Upon A Time", the Master reunites with his wife to collect their children from around the universe.
1. Chapter 1

Her breath caught as he pulled her into his chest. She felt the burn of her tears as she inhaled his scent. She leaned her head against him, feeling the weight of his arms holding her. Her tears burned more as she looped her arms around him, clinging to him for all she was worth. Inhaling his scent, she knew it was him but something was different, something was ... off. At the moment, she didn't care she was in his arms and he in hers. She felt his fingers lift her chin to look into those eyes she had memorized for so many years. "Hello love."  
"Hello love."  
"I didn't mean to leave you for so long, things happened I couldn't control."  
"Did you run into Missy?"  
"And the Doctor and the beginning of the Cybermen, which I might have sort of helped kickstart."  
"Sounds like you."  
He grinned, she could always call him out on his bullshit. "I think I killed Missy."  
"Is that such a bad thing?"  
"Oh now, what's this? Missy rub you the wrong way ... or the right."  
"I never let her lay a hand on me."  
"Why not."  
"I don't want a wife, I want YOU."  
"That's my love, always fighting to keep us together. You've fought for us and I never seemed to help much."  
"You are you but I always knew how much I mean to you." She stared at him, lifting a hand to stroke his goatee. "I believe I am the only woman you have ever said I love you to unless I am wrong."  
"No, you're not wrong, you are truly the only woman I do love. Why could the Doctor never understand that?"  
"He never let emotions run his soul, you wear them quite prominently." She caressed his cheek. "Missed you."  
"Missed you too."  
Her hand slinked into the collar of his shirt to rub the back of his neck. Her fingers touched the bare top of a scar there and she let out the lightest of sighs. "Missy never had the scar, she told me it regenerated out of her. I had nothing to do with her after that."  
"Because of my scar, why?"  
"That scar is deep in your skin, as deep as mine and even if you were to regenerate the mark of it would remain."  
"On that you are quite right." He tilted his head, hearing a faint noise. "What is that?"  
"What do you think IT is?"  
"It sounds quite like the TARDIS."  
"It is, she's been helping me look for you."  
"I see." Letting her go, he backed up and twirled away. "So, what have you been up to?"  
"Looking for you, looking for our children ... burying people close to me."  
"Like?"  
"Rick and Ali."  
"Your parents."  
"Not my parents after all ... they lied to me."  
He spun back to face her. "This I want to hear."  
"I went back to see them one last time, to see if I could make amends but they were dying ... together. In those brief moments, they told me that I was not their daughter and never had been. THEIR Juliet had died a week after she was born and the day after they buried her ... they found me. A note was attached saying 'ask no questions and never say she's not yours' so they did what the note said. I guess dying changed their mind." She licked her lips. "I guess that explains all the animosity they felt for me."  
He moved back and consumed her back into his body. "I am so sorry my love, I wish I had known."  
"It makes no matter, we're together and that's what matters now."  
"Who's on the TARDIS?"  
"One crazy black dragon, 27 angry spheres and a tottered Dalek."  
"In other words: Mordu, the Toclafane and Caan. Hail hail the gang's all here, so where's the kids?"  
"Haven't gone looking for them."  
"Why not?"  
"Didn't feel like it."  
He backed up to stare at her. "Who are you and what have you done with my wife?"  
"I wasn't in the mood to see them without you by my side. When we find them, I'll have to explain about Rick and Ali. I didn't want to do it alone."  
"Oh my darling love, I completely understand that."  
"I laid flowers out the other day. I placed a ring of star laces to bloom when they wanted."  
Stepping back to her, he placed a searing kiss upon her lips. "I think it's time we went and found them."  
"Why?"  
"Why the hell not! The Master and the Mrs. Master are back together! We need to have our children together for what's to come!"  
"Which is?"  
"The Doctor has set a chain of events into play and the universe is about to blow its bloody top! I want our family safe when the proverbial apocalypse comes!"  
"Well then, I guess we should be going then."  
"I guess we should."  
Hand in hand, they strolled to the red police box as the doors opened. A black dragon appeared in the doors with several spheres. 'Welcome home father'  
Petting the dragon, they moved inside to the controls. "Aon, upload our children's locations into the mainframe."  
'Of course father'  
"Creet, Creelu ... prepare the TARDIS, we may have to do rapid scoops and run."  
'Understood father'  
"Vag ... make sure the weapons are ready if we need them."  
'Of course father'  
"I hope we have enough Toclafane."  
"We always do dear."  
Pulling the handle down, the TARDIS spun as the doors closed. 


	2. Chapter 2

"I thought I would come and see you since your mum came without me. I know I haven't been around for awhile but I couldn't help matters, things had to be taken care of. No, that's not right ... things were done and I wanted to do them. I'm not good at this, never have been, mum's better mum is always better. I'm not good at this, I'm really not because I don't know how to do this! I don't know how to handle this, I don't know what this is! I spent so many years being alone, not letting anyone close that I just pushed aside everything else ... then mum walked into my life. I guess I needed mum more than I thought. She has shown me so much since we've been together and we've been through a lot. Your brother and sisters ... you ... we were great together, no one bothered us people actually left us alone ... yea I know, I made sure of that, finding a planet where we were the only ones on it and no one knew where we were. Yea, lot of luck we had with that. I know we had good years before we were found, still haven't figured that one out but I have my suspicions. We were all happy and no one bothered us. All of you had a great childhood, you had each other to play with as we added on to our family. None of you wanted for anything, you had a dragon as a pet AND a brother ... how cool was that. You got to grow up flying on the back of a dragon, oh yes and floating on the backs of silver spheres called Toclafane. We're not going to mentioned the tottered Dalek that roamed the house with all of you hanging from it. I think Caan actually enjoyed it because all of you never treated him like he wasn't normal. You all never knew what normal was until you had to live it. Oh, mum and I tried to protect all of you for as long as we could. We did our best and we knew it would happen one day and it did but this, oh this we never expected." He dropped to the ground and sat, wrapping his arms around his knees. "We had fun didn't we, I mean look at what we did: we play futball all of us, you and the others went to school, we watched all the Manchester United games up close and personal, we lived on a bus and traveled playing music, we watched movies and cartoons, we did all the normal family stuff. We even went to see your grandparents on occasion, though I have found out they weren't your REAL grandparents, maybe that's why you didn't connect with them like the others did. I warned you and you listened, who knows maybe I was wrong but I never knew my parents all that well either. I never wanted that for all of you and yet I became a stranger in my own way. It always surprised me when all of you would run up and hug me after I had been gone, like you all missed me in ways I couldn't imagine. Mum explained that to me: unconditional love, that's what you all had for me." Pulling a blade of grass up, he worked it in his fingers. "I don't know what makes your mum so special, how being so human causes her to act the way she does. She loves me so much and I will admit sometimes it scares me. When we were first together, I did everything to push her away but she always came back at me stronger. She wore me down and I quit pushing her away. When I did, when I stopped trying to force her away, I found someone who loved me unconditionally. She didn't care about my past or what I had done, she just loved me for who I was to her right then and there. It's the reason I've kept this face for as long as I have." He looked around for a brief moment. "Got a confession to make: I like this face now, it's grown on me." A tear rolled down his cheek. "Why did you have to go and be so human? Why couldn't you have been like your brother and sisters?" He wiped his eyes. "WHY DID YOU GO AND HAVE TO LEAVE ME! WHY DID YOU HAVE TO DIE!" Tears rolled hard and fast down his face. "I came back, why didn't you! Why couldn't you regenerate! Why didn't you regenerate! You are my son, you are the son of the Master so WHY DIDN'T YOU REGENERATE! How did I survive and you didn't! I would have died in your place and let you live! You are my son, you shouldn't be dead! I love you, why did you have to leave me!" Tears raced down harder as he leaned over, pressing his forehead to the tombstone. "Mum waited on both of us to regenerate, she waited so long that I think something inside her must've broke somewhere. She's fine now, don't get me wrong but there are times that whatever comes back and I see it in her eyes. She gets lost in her sadness and sometimes it's hard for me to bring her back but I do. I wish you were here with us now, I miss you so much. All the things I wanted us to do, all the things I wanted to show you, all the things we were meant to do as father and son." Lifting his forehead, his fingers traced over the name 'James Elam Saxon' as he lightly chuckled. "Keeping Saxon was your mum's idea, telling the world I was the misunderstood and always blamed twin brother for everything Harold did. I knew what Harold did because guess what: I was Harold." He sat back and looked at the tombstone. "Missy is no longer around, I nipped that in the bud in a BIG hurry. Sometimes I wonder if she was really me or not, who knows and who cares she's gone now. What would be funny is if the Doctor went girl, oh that would be hilarious to see!" He looked up in the sky at the burning sun. "Part of me is glad you're not here though, the Doctor has set into motion something that can't be undone. A universal apocalypse is headed our way; mum and I are trying to get to the others before it happens. I wish I had a way to move you somewhere safe, somewhere where I could still come and have our chats but where that would be I don't know. I miss you so much and it hurts me so bad that I survived and you didn't. I would change that if I could, I would bring you back and let me go on ... but then that wouldn't be right either. I have seen your mum without me in her life, thinking I am dead and it scared me. It scared me for her because she became so sad, so depressed, so lost that she almost took her life. Yea, mum was bad enough to try and kill herself. People got to her and took her in, tried to help her all they could but even they had a hard time holding onto her. When I got there, it was almost too late ... but I made it. I got her back and I swore I would never let her go again but what did I do: I left like I always did, forgetting the vow I had made to her. Of course she let me come back, she always lets me come back and I can never hold her enough, love her enough, to make up for it but I try." Leaning over, he blew on a ring around the tombstone as flowers bloomed. "Goodbye my son, I love you always and I miss you more than I can ever put into words." Rising from the ground, he dusted himself off and walked away. 


End file.
